


Vengeance

by Mystic_Ender



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27926026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystic_Ender/pseuds/Mystic_Ender
Summary: In a world somewhere, a little girl got trapped in a circus-themed animatronic.In a world somewhere, the Funtimes had been meant for young children.But... it is not this world.
Kudos: 11





	1. Night 1 & 2

_**“Damien, I’m not sure this is a good idea… This feels out of character for him.”** _

_**“He said he accepted our apology, right? He just… wants an opinion on new animatronics. This is a first, but… we never know, right?”** _

_**“Right.” __**_ __

__They stood in the elevator, the fan whirring above their head. The shadow of the blades caused the light to fade from their face from time to time, but it didn't stop their emerald green eyes from shining in the dark, making the whole set from an outsider's view to be, well… unsettling. Some part of them didn't know why they were here. Some part of them was wondering how they were even hired considering they had barely even passed and got their degree. But the other part… the other part knew._ _

__They weren't here for the money. Lord knew they could have gotten a job literally anywhere else if that was the case. No, no they were here for something else. They were here for answers. Answers to questions that had gotten unanswered for too long, collecting dust in the back of people's minds._ _

__The HandUnit powered up in their hands, and with its weird cheery voice, began to talk._ _

___"Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career! Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad in "Screws, Bolts, and Hairpins", or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I'm a model 5 of the Handyman's Robotics and Unit Repair System. But, you can call me "HandUnit". Your new career promises challenge, intrigue, and endless janitorial opportunities. Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later, so, please be careful."_ _ _

__The keyboard was glitching. The letters fused together, moved from the spot they were to switch with other letters, and sometimes the keyboard just straight up froze, which caused the screen to be unresponsive for a good thirty seconds._ _

___“It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you. one moment. Welcome: Fergalicious.”_ _ _

__“You have got to be kidding me,” Fritz sighed as the name rang around the elevator. At least it was… gender-neutral. It wasn’t their old name, either, which they were more than grateful it wasn’t. Sure, there were chances it wouldn’t have rung considering there are a lot of names starting with F, but… they had still slightly feared it. They would take being named after a damn song. “Thank you, HandUnit. Being named after a damn song certainly was on my bucket list.”_ _

__Once the elevator stopped and they pressed the big red button, more disappointment seeped in. They supposed this explained why they were hired despite their shit degree. They stared at the small vent, which obviously would be their only way into the facility. They thanked whatever God was out there for their slim figure as they crouched in front of the vent entrance and begun crawling, clutching the HandUnit in their hands as they slowly made their way forward. They wondered what they would find on the other end of this. Would the facility even be in a decent state? They hoped so. They didn’t know what they would be dealing with, especially considering they were, well… animatronics. And if you considered what happened to Jeremy, those damn things certainly had something going on with them. Though what it was, no one knew. Well, mostly no one._ _

___“Allow me to fill this somewhat frightening silence with some lighthearted banter. Due to the massive success, and, even more so, the unfortunate closing of Freddy’s Fazbear Pizza-”_ _ _

__“Unfortunate my ass,” Fritz grumbled as they got up from the ground, HandUnit in hand. They dusted off their indigo jumpsuit and looked around the small room, before shutting up and continuing to listen to the HandUnit._ _

___“-It was clear that the stage was set (no pun intended) for another contender in children’s entertainment. Unlike most entertainment venues, our robotic entertainers are rented out for private parties during the day, and it’s your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning.”_ _ _

__“Yeah, yeah, that much I knew, now are you gonna be a dear and tell me what I am supposed to do or no, you stupid thing?”_ _

___“You are now in the Primary Control Module; it’s actually a crawlspace between the two front showrooms. Now, let’s get started with your daily tasks. View the window to your left. This is the Ballora Gallery: Party Room and Dance Studio, encouraging kids to get fit and enjoy pizza! Let’s turn on the light and see if Ballora is onstage. Press the blue button on the elevated keypad to your left.”_ _ _

__“Thank you,” They muttered sarcastically as they looked over to the darkened window, and pressed the dirty blue-button lightly, and frowned at the sight that greeted them. There were no animatronic on the other side of the screen, and they looked at the HandUnit in light confusion, then back at the window. “Okayyy, I’m assuming that ain’t normal.”_ _

___“Uh oh! It looks like Ballora doesn’t feel like dancing. Let’s give her some motivation. Press the red button now to administer a controlled shock. Maybe that will put the spring back in her step.”_ _ _

__“Nevermind then, it is apparently normal,” Fritz sighed and stared at the bright red button. Could… they skip without? Animatronics very much had minds for themselves if the previous things they had gone through meant anything, if what happened to Jeremy meant anything, and the dark-haired person would prefer skipping the thing that could possibly anger the shit out of those things. They waited for a few seconds, and when the HandUnit repeated its message again, they assumed they had no choice but to do it. They hesitantly pressed the button and winced at the harsh shock that caused flashes to appear in the window._ _

__They were then asked to check the light again, and they nearly sighed in relief when they saw the figure standing on its stage. The woman-looking thing was standing in position, its light purple skin shining under the lights. Its white hair, top, and shoes looked surreal on the animatronic. Fritz supposed that it was, well, impressive. But they still had a shiver run down their spine when they finally stopped pressing the light button, a weird feeling that the ballerina was now staring at them bubbling in their gut._ _

___“Excellent.”_

Why did it sound so satisfied?

_“Ballora’s feeling like her old self again and will be ready to perform again tomorrow. Now, view the window to your right. This is the Funtime Auditorium, where Funtime Foxy encourages kids to play and share. Try the light! Let’s see what Funtime Foxy is up to.”_

They did press the light, and they closed their eyes tightly when the HandUnit told them to do the same thing they had done to Ballora. Fritz reluctantly pressed the electric shock button, and their heart squeezed in their chest when they were told to do it again. They didn’t know why they felt bad. Why did they feel bad? Maybe because they knew they were, well, alive. The guilt that they were hurting something that lived and moved, despite it being aggressive. 

When they hit the light button again, they sighed in relief at the sight of Funtime Foxy standing on its stage. The fox-looking robot was white and magenta, though a much darker shade than the Freddy one she had seen on a poster. It was leaning on the red, and it definitely made them think of the old Foxy. Michael had a mask of it. They had burned it for him when he had gone missing and never showed up again. They had burned that damn thing the day of his funeral, and Fritz knew that Michael would have appreciated it. Jeremy had been there with them. 

_“Looks like Funtime Foxy is in perfect working order. Great job!”_

Stop sounding so damn satisfied.

_“In front of you is another vent shaft. Crawl through it to reach the Circus Baby Control Module.”_

Another vent opened in front of them, and they had to crawl through it like they had done to get inside the crawlspace. They winced when their dark hair got stuck on a bolt and they had to carefully remove it, and they muttered to themselves about having to tie it up in the future. When they finally got out of the shaft and into the room, they were panting a little. That vent had been much longer than the previous one.

_“On the other side of the glass is Circus Baby’s auditorium. Let’s check the light and see what Baby is up to.”_

The lights were broken. They hoped that it meant that it would get them out of this shitty place faster, but no. They still had to shock the animatronic. Again. And again. And again. 

_“Great job, Circus Baby. We knew we could count on you! That concludes your duties for your first night on the job. We don’t want you to leave overwhelmed; otherwise, you might not come back. Please leave using the vent behind you, and we’ll see you again tomorrow.”_

\-----

_**“Cath, I’m not the only one who’s getting a bad feeling, right? This feels too odd. Why do we even need to go underground?”** _

_**“I don’t fucking know… let’s just see, yeah? It could be nothing. We can always escape if it’s not the case or something.”** _

_**“Yeah…”** _

Fritz was not looking forward to going underground again. They had gotten nightmares, and it had caused them to get little to no sleep. They had trouble standing without falling forward from exhaustion in that damn elevator. The whole way over it seemed like everything caused them to get old memories of the past, memories of when they were still a teen. The one bus stop where they had bickered with Michael about god knows what, the one old bookstore Damien had shown them, the park they had spent time at with Michael’s other friends… the job brought back all these memories and they hated it. 

But this had to be done.

_“Welcome back, for another night of intellectual stimulation, pivotal career choices, and self-reflection on past mistakes. We’re committed to creating a unique and fulfilling work experience. One part of that commitment is ensuring you don’t get tired of the voice that you’re hearing right now. Using the keypad below, please select a new companion voice. For male, press 1. For female, press 2. For text only, press 3. For the other options, press 4.”_

Fritz got stuck with Angsty Teen. At least it was entertaining, as they sighed and crawled through the vent. Well, it was entertaining until they learned a dead body was found in there once. Needless to say, they began crawling faster after that, their breathing quickening. They would rather not stay in a vent where somebody died in once. They sighed in relief when they finally got out of there.

They had to zap Ballora again. They hated how the voice sounded so… satisfied. And excited. God, no matter which voice Fritz would have been stuck with, it would never change, would it? They would be stuck hearing an AI sound satisfied over making other animatronics suffer. Hurray.

Then there was… some kind of glitch. They didn’t know what it was, but it settled a fear deep in their bones. It scared them, and their heart was pounding hard in their chest when the angsty teen voice got back to normal. They hesitantly turned towards the Funtime auditorium after that, and when they checked the lights, the fear only intensified as the voice began lagging again, distorting and saying words that made absolutely no sense.

_“There seems to have been a problem with the voice synthesizer. Default settings have been restored. Please proceed through the vent ahead of you to Circus Baby’s Auditorium.”_

The vent opened with a loud clang ahead of them, and they tied their hair up this time around as they slowly crawled their way through the vent. They nearly jumped at the sound for the motion detector but kept going after that, if a little faster than before. They were starting to slightly regret taking this god damn job, even if it was for the sake of answers. They hated this.

_“Circus Baby had a busy day today! Let’s check the light, and make sure she is in proper working order.”_

Their heart was pounding in their chest as they pressed the button to check the lights. They had a bad feeling, and they seriously did not want to discover what it would bring.

“Oh, Circus Baby, we aren’t here to play Hide and Seek! Let’s encourage Baby to come out of hiding with a controlled shock.”

The button did not work. 

**The button did not work.**

_“Let’s try another controlled shock!”_

“I- God, no…” They muttered, but still pressed the button again. Their hands were shaking a bit, now. The bad feeling only grew, and Fritz felt as if there were multiple eyes staring right behind their head, contemplating what their next move would be. The dark-haired person was scared out of their fucking mind. It, once again, did not work.

_“There seems to be a power malfunction that is affecting our ability to properly motivate Baby. Please stand by while I reboot the system. I will be offline momentarily during this process. Various other systems may be offline as well, such as security doors, vent locks, and oxygen.”_

“WHY ARE YOU CUTTING OFF OXYGEN?”

_“Commencing System Restart.”_

…

_“Motion Trigger: Entryway Vent.”_

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

_“Funtime Auditorium Maintenance Vent Opened”_

…

_“Ballora Gallery Maintenance Vent Opened”_

Fritz remained still after that. The bad feeling was right. God, the bad feeling was right. They were all coming for them now, weren’t they? The animatronics would be pissed out of their fucking mind about the fact that they been given controlled shocks, wouldn’t they? They should have found a way to skip those damn shocks. They should have. But they didn’t. And here they were now, seriously about to die.

“You look… familiar,” A voice rang. It was sweet and sounded a little bit childish, and it obviously was one of the animatronics’ voice. Though, which one it was, Fritz didn’t know. Though they did have an idea of whose it was, considering they were standing right in her auditorium. “You’re new, so why do you look familiar?”

“I’ve… came in here yesterday,” Fritz said after a little while, once the silence stretched on for too long. It was obvious that Baby was waiting for an answer, though… it’s not like they had any clue as to why they looked familiar to the animatronic. “You saw me. Might be why.”

“No, no… even when you came in here yesterday you looked familiar.” Baby continued, obviously showing no sign of stopping to figure out where they had seen Fritz before. She remained silent for a long time after that, before she whispered, soft and thoughtful, her next words. “It’s almost as if I’ve known you from before…”

“From before, what do you mean from before?” Fritz’s curiosity was picked now, despite their fear. The animatronic… none of them had acted like that before. Fritz had seen some others, but they had all acted aggressive and nothing else. They had never talked to them. So, this was new. They could get information this way.

“I, well…” Baby sounded like she was considering saying more, but she quickly cut herself off and gasped a little. “There is a space under the desk. The guy before you crafted it, and it worked for him. Get in there. They’re coming. And whatever you do, don’t look at them in the eyes.”

She went silent after that, and Fritz listened to the faint scuttles that came from the vents. They needed to hide. They obviously, very much needed to hide. Their breathing quickened as they crawled their way under the desk and tugged the metal curtain in front of them. It was covered in holes, and Fritz supposed it made sense now why Baby said not to make eye contact.

It only made more sense as eyes appeared, looking into the holes, and Fritz quickly looked away, their emerald green eyes widening in terror. Their hands were clutching the small flashlight they had been given just in case, along with the HandUnit. They wanted to close their eyes. They wanted to wait for it to be over, not doing anything, frozen in their spot. But obviously, that wouldn’t happen, as the tiny… whatever they were, began pulling at the curtain, trying to open it.

Fritz immediately went for it, desperately trying to pull it back. But it wasn’t easy. Whatever those things were, they were obviously much stronger than them, and no matter how hard they pulled, it was as if they weren’t strong enough. Then they stopped, and the dark-haired person was able to pull the curtain back completely. Fritz got a few seconds of peace before they went at it a second time, this time much stronger than before. The curtain got a little farther away from the side of the desk this time around, and Fritz only panicked a little more, their ears buzzing when the little shits finally, truly, gave up and allowed them to close the curtain completely.

_“We have to leave now…”_ They whispered, finally, and Fritz was left alone in silence for what felt like forever. Well, at least, until Baby began to speak again.

“When the HandUnit comes back online… it’s going to tell you that he was unsuccessful. That you have to restart the system manually. He will then tell you to go through Ca- Ballora’s Gallery as fast as you can to reach the breaker room. If you follow his instructions, you will die. Ballora will not return to her stage anymore. She will catch you. The power will be restored, soon. When you go through her Gallery… go slowly.” Baby took a pause after that. Fritz didn’t know why the animatronic sounded… so heartbroken. “She can’t see you, only hear movement. The louder her music is, the closer she is. Stop when that’s the case. Wait, and be still.”

“Why are you helping me?” 

“Like I said… you look like from before.” Baby said softly, voice sad but filled with curiosity. “I need more time to figure out who you are. I want to figure out who you are.” 

Her voice cut off after that.

_“Thank you for your patience. It seems the power system cannot be restarted automatically. You will need to restart the power system manually. Please, return to the primary control module.”_

Well… suppose it was showtime.


	2. Night 2 & 3

Fritz was terrified the whole time they crawled their way to Ballora’s Gallery. Maybe it was because of the dark, maybe it was the fact an animatronic had just talked to them and given them advice on how to survive an angry ballerina’s stage… but, they were terrified. It still didn’t stop them from moving on, though. They wanted to get out of there, and for this, they needed to make sure the power to the elevator was back on.

_“Motion Trigger: Circus Gallery Vent.”_

“Yeah… yeah, I know that,” Fritz muttered and laughed a little to themselves, the stress making the sound forced as it rang around them. When they finally got out of the vent, they sniffled a little and wiped the dust away from their pants and hands, a gesture that reassured them… just a little. Just a little. “Now, HandUnit, are you gonna be a dear and tell me to head into the lion’s den?”

_“You will be required to crawl through the Ballora Gallery, using the vent to your left, to reach the breaker room. It is recommended that you stay low to the ground to reach the other side as fast as possible as to not disturb Ballora. I will deactivate myself momentarily, as to not create an auditory disturbance. Deactivating.”_

“And I’ll thank God every day to not hear your voice for five more minutes, dear,” Fritz muttered and crouched in front of the now opened vent, and winced when they saw how much smaller this one was compared to the one that went to Baby’s Gallery and the one to the elevator. Sure, they still were able to get in there and squeeze their way through, but they were definitely a lot closer to the sides of the vent and it made it harder to properly crawl.

_“Ballora Maintenance Vent Opened.”_

The Ballora Gallery was definitely not as dark as Circus Baby’s Gallery, but… it was the creepiest. While Circus Baby’s had a faint buzzing sound in the background, Ballora’s was… completely silent. There was pressure on their eardrums because of it, and they wanted to rub at the side of their ears as if it would bring back sound. Which, they knew it wouldn’t. They clicked open the small flashlight in their hand and pointed it towards the ground, and with a deep sigh, slowly started making their way forward.

It was silent for a long time before they heard a sound on their right. It was a soft melody, dark and melancholic, but there were also small notes in there that made goosebumps appear on your skin. Those notes expressed such anger, a flaming fury that could barely be contained. It felt hinted towards them, but it also was definitely meant for everything and everyone. What could have angered the animatronic in such a way, Fritz did not know. They froze there and listened, and when it shifted to their left and disappeared, only then did they start moving forward again.

They had to stop every few steps, and every time, it felt like it got closer and closer and closer. It was frankly terrifying, and every damn time, it felt like the animatronic would grab them and it would be the end of them.

_“It seems you are taking a long time. Please proceed as quickly and quietly as possible.”_

Fritz would definitely smash that HandUnit in the parking lot if they survived the night. They wanted to spout curses at it, each filled with more and more venom as it gathered at their lips, but they pressed them tightly and took a calming breath. The music was getting closer already. If they started cursing, it would only make it worse and give them less of a chance to get to the breaker room.

When the music faded, they moved forward.

When it neared, they stopped.

When they saw the lights above the breaker room’s door, they nearly laughed in relief, but shut up when they saw Ballora spin right in front of them, her purple and white legs way too close for their comfort. They were frozen in place for a long time, and they even saw her pass a second time before continuing to move forward, despite every one of their senses screaming at them to stop. They were so near. So, god damn near.

They nearly cried when they finally reached the very dark Breaker Room.

_“Motion trigger: Breaker Room.”_

_“You may now interface with the breaker control box. Using the interface may disrupt nearby electronics. If you feel you are in danger, feel free to disconnect the interface temporarily until it is safe to reconnect.”_

“Oh wow, thank you HandUnit, that will definitely help me! Because you have obviously helped me in that Gallery, haven’t you?!” They spat out angrily and looked around the breaker room, wondering why the fuck they would be in danger, when… they saw the animatronic in the room.

It was huge. Fritz was tall themself, with an easy 6’0ft tall, but the animatronic… God, it must be nearing the 7ft. Maybe even 8ft, considering it was still far away from them. It looked like one of the old Freddys but painted in a shining white and pink. There seemed to be some kind of pattern on its huge bowtie, but… from where they were, they couldn’t see it. One arm held a mic, while the other had a bunny puppet on it. Bright blue, like the old Bonnies. Had that thing really been made to entertain children? The only thing it was, was terrifying. There was no way children actually liked that one.

They then looked down at their HandUnit and looked at the button that had appeared on its screen in light confusion. Uh. Maybe… maybe that was in case the Freddy got too close? That would explain it. That would definitely explain it. They stocked that information away for later and brought up the breaker box.

They had been able to go through the first two restarts with little to no problem, but when the danger level got to maximum, they quickly looked away from the interface and to their right, where Freddy had gotten so much closer. Their heart rate spiked as they froze and stared at it, their eyes going to the bowtie, the one thing they hadn’t been able to see clearly when they had first seen the animatronic bear. It had… some kind of sweater design on it, one that looked familiar. Really, really familiar. But in their panic, they couldn’t put their finger on it. They looked at it in the eyes, and for a moment… it almost looked like it recognized them. But it quickly faded away, and Fritz immediately went for the mascot button.

_“Calm down and go back to sleep! No one is there!”_

Fritz froze. Their breathing quickened again, making them almost lightheaded as they gripped the HandUnit in their hands. Why did the mascot have their voice? How, and why, did that mascot have their voice? They had never done any job to voice robots, and there was no way in Hell they had changed the mascot’s voice recently by hearing them talk to the HandUnit. When Freddy was finally back in place, they continued doing the restarts. But their mind was elsewhere. Their hands were shaking, their ears were ringing. 

They were terrified.

It only got worse as they had to make the mascot sound play again, and again, and again.

They nearly cried when they finally left that room, the idea that their voice was in a puppet making their skin crawl. Were they in children’s nightmares now? God, they hoped not. They hoped not, as they slowly crawled through Ballora Gallery, this time its silence welcoming. There was no room for thought, as they all felt too loud. They thought they could get through it with no music, this time around.

They were wrong.

“Is someone there?” A voice rang around. A woman’s, evidently a woman’s, and definitely Ballora’s. Fritz froze, waiting for more, but when there was nothing… they continued forward, limbs shaking. 

“I can hear someone creeping through my damn room…” She continued, and her voice, once filled with anger, quickly turned sad and tired. She gave up… so easily. So, so easily, when she said her next words. “Maybe not….”

They cried when they finally got out.

\-----

_**“Guys… Guys where are you? Please, this isn’t funny-”** _

_**“Jessica!”** _

_**“...Dami? Hold on!”** _

_“Welcome back to another pivotal night of your thriving new career, where you get to really ask yourself: What am I doing with my life? What would my friends say? And, most importantly, will I ever see my family again?”_

“See, I would ask all of those, but nearly all my friends disappeared and one is blind with memory problems, so, really, HandUnit, be a dear and stop going for the sore spots,” Fritz muttered as they stood in the elevator. Why the fuck were they going back in there. Why the fuck had they not smashed the HandUnit in the parking lot. God, their night would be much more valuable without that damn thing bringing them problems from left and right.

_“We understand the stresses of a new job, and we’re here for you.”_

“Oh, are you now?”

_“To help you reach a more stable and relaxing frame of mind, we offer several musical selections to help make this elevator ride as relaxing and therapeutic as possible.”_

“No, no I actually just need sleep.”

_“We offer contemporary jazz, classical, rainforest ambiance, as well as a wide selection of other choices. Using the keypad below, please type the first few letters of the musical selection you would prefer.”_

“We both know that whatever I write, dear, will end up with something I do not want.” They muttered and clicked on one of the letters, and just glared at the HandUnit when it declared that Fritz had apparently chosen Casual Bongos. Casual. Bongos. “Thank you for your extraordinary music taste.”

_“Now that your elevator experience has been customized to your needs, and you’re thoroughly relaxed, it’s worth mentioning that due to your lackluster performance yesterday, your pay has been decreased by a substantial amount. Please enjoy the rest of your descent.”_

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” They sighed and rubbed at their eyes when they clicked the big red button and watched the elevator doors open to the main shaft that they got… already used to crawling through after three nights on the job. “Had I known my pay would be decreased, I would have smashed you in the parking lot. It would have made it worth it. Also would have fired me, but seriously, you deserve it.”

_“Due to unforeseen malfunctions from today’s shows, your nightly duties will require you to perform maintenance that you may or may not be skilled enough to perform. It became necessary for technicians to attempt to disconnect Funtime Freddy’s power module. However, they were unsuccessful. Allowing them to try again would be an inefficient path forward, as we would need to allow six to eight weeks for recovery and physical therapy.”_

“So this is a mutual hate situation, good to know. This certainly allows me to hate you more, dear.”

“You will need to reach the Parts and Service Room on the other side of Funtime Auditorium to perform the procedure yourself. Let’s check on Ballora first, and make sure she is on her stage.”

When Fritz pressed the light button, they simply stared at the sight that greeted them on the other side of the screen. Ballora was in pieces. In literal, pieces. Her head and various limbs were being held up by the Minireenas, and the purple paint had some cracks in it, make it look like tiny white lightning strikes were running across the metal. They quickly stopped pressing the button after that.

_“Great. It looks like everything is as it should be at Ballora Gallery.”_

“You- You call that normal?!”

_“Let’s check on Funtime Foxy. It’s important to make sure he is on his stage before entering.”_

When they clicked the lights, this time around, Foxy wasn’t there. He was obviously off his stage, doing… something, and while they did not want to electrocute the animatronic before going in there in case it angers him, they certainly did not want to go in there when there was an animatronic running around on the floor they would be walking on. But… they had a bad feeling they would need to, anyway.

_“Great. It looks like everything is as it should be in the Funtime Auditorium. There is no need to check on Circus Baby tonight. Please refrain from entering unauthorized areas. Proceed directly to Funtime Auditorium.”_

“Oh, so you really do want to kill me, good to know.” Fritz sighed and looked over at the vent that went to Baby’s Gallery. It had opened too, and they considered not going in there, but… she had given them advice. And she had talked of a ‘before’, which obviously meant she had the information they needed. They crouched in front of the vent and went through it. “Well, you know what? I’m not gonna listen to you. My pay is getting decked, you’re an ass, and Baby’s vent is opened. So, fuck you, HandUnit.”

They crawled their way slowly through the vent, and this time around, no motion detector rang. They didn’t know why, but they appreciated it. At least it meant the HandUnit wouldn’t throw a fit about the fact that they were somewhere they shouldn’t be when they got out of the Circus Baby’s Vent. The Gallery was dark, extremely dark, and no light activated when they got in there. Which, made sense. They bit their lip for a little while and got under the desk, and pulled the metal curtain closed.

“...You’re back,” Baby’s voice rang around them, and she sounded both so shocked and excited. Excited for interaction with a human she had apparently recognized, even though Fritz had never seen her before. For a moment, they wondered if it wasn’t because she had heard their voice coming from Freddy’s puppet. It would explain it. “I’m happy you’re back.”

“Yeah. I was wondering… what you meant by ‘before’, the other day.” Fritz began slowly, drumming their fingers on the HandUnit in their hands. It still hadn’t lightened up and told them to leave the room, so they would take it. They couldn’t stand the sound of that thing, anymore. “I was hoping you could tell me more.”

“I… yes, I can do that.” Baby said softly, her voice dripping with an emotion Fritz couldn’t pin down. It was sadness, yes, but mixed with anger, frustration, and pain. There was definitely some sort of pain in there, as they had heard it from their voice and Jeremy’s so many times each time Fritz had to tell them that the blond wasn’t a teen anymore, that their friends were gone. “I remember a time when… I wasn’t like that. When I wasn’t in this body made of metal, when I wasn’t trapped in a cage to perform over and over and over… I remember you from that time. But… you look different from that person, in some ways. You look a little older, maybe. And they didn’t have scars on their hands.”

“...What was their name?”

“Fritz. Their name was Fritz. They had chosen it themselves, you know?” Baby said, and Fritz was trying so hard not to cry as gears turned in their head. “They always said my dresses were horrid. Something about how they were something a grandmother would wear... they were supposed to show me their favorite store when we were taken down here…”

“...Jessica?” Fritz choked out, and they quickly pulled the curtain away and crawled out from underneath it, to stand in front of the foggy window. There was a hulking form behind it, definitely the animatronic, but… how the hell- “Jessica, how did you even end up like this? What happened?”

“Fritz? It’s you? For real?” She sounded so excited… and so happy. It broke their heart a little more. God, she was alive, but in such a horrible way. “We were all alone for so long…”

“I know. I know.” Fritz had tears budding at the corner of their eyes, now. Tears threatening to fall and turn into small waterfalls, so much pain and relief coursing through their veins. They had found their friends, but at what cost? At what cost? “Can you tell me what happened? How did you even up like this?”

“Cath, Damien, and I’s apology had been accepted by William.” Jessica began slowly, anger resonating in her voice. A clear, very strong anger that sounded so out of place for her. They couldn’t remember ever seeing her this angry. “He had… he had then told us, a few days after, that he trusted us and wanted our opinion on new animatronics. We were all still so guilty of our actions, we all accepted. We told ourselves.. maybe, maybe this would give us a chance of making up for this, despite the accepted apology. I thought it was out of place for him. But Cath and Damien saw nothing wrong with this, so… I went along with it.

“Then, when we got down here, in this facility, he simply told us to explore and disappeared. We had given ourselves a rallying point, the elevator, the one we had taken to get here. But… things went wrong. I remember Damien screaming my name, getting to him, and discovering… discovering…” Jessica sounded disgusted, horrified. Fritz didn’t know what she found, but… they wanted to know.

“What did you find?”

“He was stuck in the Freddy.” Jessica spat out. “He.. he died in there, Fritz. Cath was killed by Ballora, and I by this stupid robot circus-looking Baby. We all didn’t know that we would end up… connected to these things. When Michael was brought in here by his father, we did what we could to stop him… but he ended up just like us. Maybe worse.”

“...What- What do you mean?”

“His mind fused with Foxy. He’s… not really in there, anymore. His ghost is possessing the thing, but all he knows is anger. He doesn’t know his name, he doesn’t remember anything. He just knows that he is angry, and he takes that anger out on whoever he can.”

“Dear God…” Fritz muttered and sat down on the floor. They were shaking. Every limb they had was shaking. Horror was coursing through their veins. Catherine was dismantled, Michael lost his god damn mind, Jessica… Jessica was probably the only sane one left out of all of them. Damien, their once boyfriend, was stuck hearing their voice over and over because of the technicians. This was their friends’ Hell. “I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be. You found us, didn’t you?” Jessica said simply. “You… should go to Michael’s Auditorium before that HandUnit rings out again.”

“Right. I’ll find a solution. I promise.”


	3. Night 3 & 4

_“Funtime Auditorium Maintenance Vent Opened”_

The words rang around them, and all Fritz could think about was the fact that this Auditorium, the animatronic in that room, contained the body and **ghost** , of their closest friend. He was trapped in there forever, Michael would never leave this room. His mind had fused with the AI, and he had become only but an angry machine. Fritz couldn’t imagine the amount of pain he was in despite the fact that he remembered nothing. Maybe it was more merciful this way, that he had forgotten. But it was still a horrible thing. And the fact that they had electrocuted him many, many times did not help the case.

_“Unlike Ballora, Funtime Foxy is motion activated. For this reason, it’s important to keep the room dark, as to not accidentally activate him. You have been provided with a flash beacon. Use it if you need to get your bearings, and to ensure you don’t bump into anything. However, use it as sparingly as possible. Proceed forward to get to the Parts and Service Room.”_

“I’m so sorry Michael…” They whispered though they knew it would do nothing. It’s not like it would stop him from attacking them if he got the chance. But… they supposed that apologizing helped them. It put their mind at rest, in a way, to apologize for not being there for Michael. For not figuring out earlier that he had been kidnapped by his own father. Soon after that, they sighed and did the first flash, before starting to make their way forward.

They saw nothing during that first flash, and they saw nothing during the second. Some part of them hoped that Michael had gone back to his stage, some part of them hoped that they wouldn’t even bump into him. They didn’t know what they would do if they saw him now, knowing what they knew. Honestly, they should know by now that what they wished for would never be given to them when they did a third flash and saw Michael right in front of them.

The fox was more terrifying in person. He was also much, much bigger. He looked to be just a little smaller than the Freddy one, which makes sense, if you consider that Michael was, well… smaller than Damien. It was hard to be taller than him, considering he was 6’3ft tall. It’s a wonder he was… even able to be stuck inside that bear. God. God, they really needed to find a way to free them all. Fritz wouldn’t be able to live with themselves if they simply moved on, knowing that their friends would be trapped and suffering. They needed to find a way.

They saw him a couple of times when they flashed after that. Each time of seeing his head move wildly, anger making him shake, broke his heart a little bit more. Jessica had been right, hadn’t she? He truly remembered nothing. Maybe it would be best they didn’t tell Jeremy about any of this. Just tell him that it was fruitless… they didn’t know what reaction it would get out of the blond if he learned that his crush’s life ended well… brutally. When they finally reached the door that gave to the Parts and Service, they took a moment to look behind them, before taking a deep breath and making their way inside.

_“Motion Trigger: Parts and Service.”_

“Hello, Dami…”

Damien definitely seemed a lot bigger when they were closer. Fritz stood there, looking at the bear, for a long time. God. This was their boyfriend’s coffin. This was their god damn boyfriend’s coffin. A metal bear, that he could probably barely control. Or, if he could, a bear that he hated with every inch of his being. They hoped he wasn’t angry at them. Especially considering they hadn’t voiced the bunny puppet willingly. Fritz didn’t even know how William got those recordings. Had the asshole found a way to do it synthetically? Mixed so many voices so that they got theirs and made that voice say what he wanted? It was horrible.

_“Great job reaching Parts and Service. It seems that Funtime Freddy is out of power, which should make your job much easier. The release switch for the chest cavity is located on the underside of the endoskeleton jaw. To reach it, we will first need to open the faceplates. You will need to press the faceplate release triggers in a specific order, and it’s important to be as precise, and careful, as possible. Locate the small button on Freddy’s face, just under his right cheek, and press it.”_

“You know… I much preferred you with brown eyes,” Fritz said softly as they looked over the faceplates, trying to figure out where the button was. It was… very well hidden, and a pain in the ass to find. They didn’t know why they were talking to him, considering the HandUnit had said he was out of power. But… it felt right. To talk to him, as if everything was normal. Which it wasn’t, God knew it wasn’t, but… it was for their mental state. They then pressed the button. “But I suppose blue eyes aren’t too bad.”

_“Great. Now locate the button under his left cheek, and press it.”_

“Life’s been weird without you around.” They said, before pressing the button under his left cheek. Then listened to the instruction for the button near the eye. “I suppose I missed having a giant in my life.”

_“Great. Now carefully locate and press the button right above Freddy’s nose.”_

“You better not jumpscare me, Damien, or I’ll be disappointed,” They began slowly, their tone slightly joking, as they pressed the button. The plates opened with a loud sound, air hissing as it released and showed the endoskeleton of the face. It was barely an endoskeleton, really, more like a bunch of wires just glued together, but… it was the term for it. They raised a hand to their heart and felt it beating erratically, the slight surprise of how sudden that move was taking them off guard. “You did jumpscare me, you absolute asshole.”

_“Good job. The plates should now be open. Locate and press the small button on the underside of Freddy’s endoskeleton jaw."_

Fritz tentatively reached inside the endoskeleton, their hand shaking a little as it went for the button on the jaw. They hoped that power wouldn’t be brought back to Damien any time soon, because if he woke up to that, no matter how much reassurance they gave, they knew that it would end with them most likely dead. They would panic too if they saw someone playing around their endoskeleton the moment they woke up. Once the button was pressed, the chest cavity opened up with a small hiss. It was less surprising than the plates.

_“Excellent. The chest cavity should now be open. Remove the power module from the chest cavity.”_

Fritz couldn’t do anything, as they stared inside the chest cavity. Reaching inside and removing the power module takes nothing. The power was off. Damien wouldn’t wake up. But… it was the idea that they would reach inside that animatronic, their hand going to the place where Damien had been trapped. Well, maybe he had been trapped deeper into the bear, but he had still been stuck there until… well, whatever killed him, killed him. But it wasn’t just that. They would remove the power module, and thus the chance of them being able to talk with him as they had with Jessica. But… they had a job to do. They reached inside the bear, and removed the power module, with a little sigh.

“I’ll talk to you later, Dami. I promise.”

_“Great work. You will now be required to remove the second power module from the Bonnie hand puppet. Press the large black button beneath Bonnie’s bow tie to release the power module.”_

So the thing with their voice. That wouldn’t be a problem at all. They looked over to the hand where the robot was supposed to be, but only sighed when they saw that the damn thing was gone. Okay. Time to find it. It’s not like it could hurt them, right? It looked innocent enough. Sure, it had their voice, sure, it created a rage in them, but it couldn’t hurt them. It was just… finding them and pressing the black button to turn that damn thing off.

What followed was essentially a hide and seek game. It was waiting for Bonnie to show themselves, wait for them to be high enough so that Fritz could press the button. It took a few tries because each damn time, they were too fast and it made the puppet hide again. On the fifth try, they finally were able to press the button before the Bonnie puppet went back into hiding, and they sighed in relief when they collected the power module.

_“Great job. You’ve acquired both power modules. This completes your tasks for the night. please exit the building through Funtime Auditorium, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow.”_

Fritz looked one last time at the huge animatronic on the table, and with a sad smile and a sigh, they turned back and left the room. They closed their flashlight and took the flash beacon back out, the sudden dark still odd on their eyes. They did the first flash and moved on forward, then a second, then a third, and then…

A screech, and darkness.

\-----

When they came to again, they were stuck in… something. It was metal, obviously, it was metal, if the coldness meant anything. Something was pressing on their skin, something very uncomfortable, and panic made their heart beat faster. Foxy had gotten to them, hadn’t he? Fuck. Had Michael put him in there out of his anger, hoping that they would be stuck in the same situation they were all in? They hoped not. God, they hoped not.

“Fritz? Fritz, stay calm. Michael put you in there last night after he got to you. I don’t… I don’t even know why he did it, I don’t know if it was programming, but stay calm, can you do that?” Jessica’s voice rang around them, and they shakily nodded. They didn’t know if the girl saw it, but obviously, she had had in some way because she continued soon after they nodded. “They were looking for you today. The cameras were on and everything. I wish I could have helped but had I moved… it would have been game over for me. Scooped and in even more pain. So…”

“Is there… is there a way for me to get out?” They asked, trying to keep their voice from shaking but obviously failing. This was a terrifying situation, after all. They hated it so much. “Jess?”

“Not… not really. It has spring locks and if you’re not careful, well… they’ll fail and it will end in a lot of blood. I don’t know what’s gonna happen if you die in that and I would rather not have you stuck possessing an animatronic like us.” Jess ranted a little, her voice obviously panicking and scared. The last time she had to help someone in such a way, she had failed. She hadn’t been able to save Michael, and now he was stuck possessing Foxy. So, it made sense why she was so scared. “You’re in the scooping room, too. If you move badly, I don’t know if the scoop will go off. I’d rather not have you bleeding on the floor because your internal organs got taken out.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Jess.”

“Does it sound like I’m kidding?” She said with a small frustrated sigh. “Listen-”

Something cut her off. The sound of metal rolling. It sounded like she tried to speak, but the metal was too loud and she shut up. Fritz watched in horror at the figure that was slowly being rolled in. Ballora- Catherine- appeared in her field of vision. The purple and white ballerina was obviously off if the fact that she wasn’t moving meant anything. When the sound of metal stopped, Jess began after a few seconds of silence.

“What is she doing here? She was doing so well at hiding her anger during performances, she was getting so good at pretending, they can’t be scooping her-” Jess said in a light panic, and a sharp whine rang in Fritz’s ears for a moment, but it quickly got muffled. She was panicking, that much was obvious. “She’s not gonna be built back up again after this-”

An industrial beep rang for a moment. Then… then the scooper went at it. It removed the plates, it broke Catherine down to pieces like she had been the day before. It was terrifying to watch, and Jessica’s whine rang in their ears, this time louder, as the scoop went at it again, and again, and again. When it finally stopped, it sounded like Jessica was weeping. A single purple eye was flashing in Fritz’s direction, and they couldn’t help but stare at it.

“Jess.”

“Y-Yeah?”

“How do I get out of there?”

“I’ll just… give me a moment,” Jess sniffled a little, and the faceplates opened for them. They could see better now, without the metal obstructing their face. “I’d remove you out of it, but I don’t know how. It should allow the cameras to see you and for them to get you in the morning. Make… make sure to keep the spring locks wound up, or they’ll fail.”

“Okay. Okay, I can do that.” Fritz assured, and listened to Jess’s sniffles get louder and louder. “I know it sounds like nothing Jess, but I’m sure she’s fine. Tomorrow… Tomorrow we’ll find a way to get all of you out. Leave. Move on. Whatever term you prefer. I swear.”

“Okay.” The animatronic finally calmed down, and it sounded like she nodded, if the sound of the plates meant anything. “I’ve- I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jessica left soon after that, and Fritz was once again, all alone. All alone with the illuminated eye, with the click of the spring locks, and their thoughts. They wished Jessica had remained, but obviously, the girl would have been caught had she remained. So, Fritz took a breath and did their best to keep their hands from shaking as they want to lock the spring locks back into place. It wasn’t easy, and they kept. Moving. Back. They discovered quickly enough that their breath made them unlock faster, and if they wiggled, it shifted so many of them at once they barely escaped death many times.

Then, came the Minireenas. The tiny ballerinas painted in white with pink tutus climbed the suit and came to stare Fritz down. Those things were so creepy, and their hands reached for them many times and each time, they had to wiggle to get them off. With each wiggle, came the race to put the spring locks back in place. There was no real room for thought, the only thing they could really do was pray over and over that the clock would ring soon announcing that their shift was over and people would come to find them.

They almost cried when the clock rang, and the Minireenas climbed down.

They had lived through the night.


	4. Night 5

“You began the show without me, uh?” Fritz said once they entered the home, the sound of the familiar drama resonating around the small living room. The apartment wasn’t the biggest, but it was Jeremy’s and them’s home. They had proposed to move in with him when his previous roommate moved out, not able to deal with his memory problems anymore. So, Fritz took their place. It was hard, sometimes, but it was fun to live with their friend. “Couldn’t wait for me, dear?”

“Fritz?” Jeremy exclaimed in light surprise, his head snapping towards where they were. He might be blind from his accident back at one of the old Freddy’s, but he had learned to live with it to the best of his capabilities. The dog next to him perked up, too, and looked at the newcomer with a tilted head. The large golden retriever had never really liked them, but they tolerated each other. It was kind of surprising to see it had apparently been worried, too. “You didn’t come home last night, I was wondering where you went.”

“Yeah… I was dead after the things I had to do,” They shrugged, and dumped their bag on the floor before rolling up the sleeves of their jumpsuit and coming to sit down next to Jeremy. They leaned back on their hands and stretched their feet in front of them, acting as casually as they could. They knew that if they gave even a hint that something was wrong, the blond would be on their case. So acting as if they hadn’t been trapped in an animatronic for a whole night it was. “So I slept at the hotel. Went back to work… and now I’m here.”

“...Oh,” He replied after a few seconds. His face had taken a pensive frown, analyzing the words being said carefully. He couldn’t exactly read body language, so he had gotten especially good at reading people’s tone of voice. Fritz’s especially. He eventually shrugged and turned back to the TV, and the dark-haired person nearly sighed in relief at the fact that they had apparently hidden everything well enough. “Well, I’m glad you’re back. You missed yesterday’s episode.”

“What happened?”

“Vlad keeps denying the baby is his. There was also a lady that came around and claimed she was pregnant with Vlad’s kid, but it was just a pillow shoved under her shirt. She was claiming money, but obviously, she didn’t get any.” Jeremy explained, frowning as he tried to remember everything. His hand went to pet Rocket, the golden retriever, and he eventually nodded once he remembered the last part of the episode. “And Clara threatened to leave him because of it. You know. The usual.”

“So it’s just as shitty as usual, good to know,” Fritz said simply, and got hit on the arm lightly and just burst out laughing before settling down to watch the show. “I seriously don’t get why you like this.”

“Michael would have liked it.” He answered, and thank God he was blind because Fritz’s expression fell quickly. Considering what they learned… yeah, it was for the better that Jeremy didn’t know what had happened to Michael and the rest of their friends.

“Yeah, he would have.”

\-----

_**“Why do you look like me?”** _

_“Welcome to your last day on the job. That is, the last day of your first week. Some of the valued qualities that we like to see in new employees are determination, fearlessness, and a genuine disregard for instinctive self-preservation.”_

“Yeah, you can say that again,” Fritz muttered in the elevator, arms crossed as they listened to the usual shitty messages that came with each night on the job. They doubted they had these qualities, really. It’s more of a mix of a sense of responsibility, spite, and heartbreak. Those were the only things that made them come back after the night they had, of trying to keep themselves from dying in that spring lock suit. “I’m certainly glad to hear your voice every night.”

_“You’ve earned your one-week bonus, which will be given to you in the form of a delightful gift basket, the cost of which will be taken out of your next paycheck. We’ve gift baskets containing fruits, nuts, flowers, and of course, the ever-popular cash basket. Using the keypad below, please enter the first few letters of the gift basket you would like to receive.”_

“See, I would certainly like the cash basket, but…” They sighed as they stared at the still very much glitching HandUnit. A pain in the ass, that thing was. They simply pressed a random button and waited for the shitty result they would get.

_“Thank you for selecting, Exotic Butters.”_

“I’m quitting after this.” They said simply, staring at the HandUnit with tired eyes. They would certainly be quitting after this, but they had to help their friends move on first. They didn’t know how, but… if they talked to Jessica, there were high chances she knew how. She inhabited her body for a good few years now, so surely she would know what weaknesses it had. They would need to find a way to get her Gallery again.

_“Just be aware that there are still two technicians on-site today. Try to avoid interfering with their work if possible. Also, feel free to ask them why they are still there, and encourage them to go home.”_

“...What?” They questioned aloud, frowning. Their green eyes were sparkling under the shitty light of the elevator, and questions were still stumbling at their lips. This would interfere with their plan of making their friends move on, wouldn’t it? They would need to be careful in there, make sure they’re not caught by whoever is in there. They waited for the elevator to stop and pressed the button to open the doors, and made their way inside by crawling through the vent, as usual.

_“Let’s check on Ballora, and make sure she’s on her stage.”_

“So they rebuilt Cath, uh?” Fritz sighed a little relief obvious in their voice despite the fact they hadn’t talked with her just yet. They had heard her talk when they had gone through her Gallery for a second time when coming back from the Breaker Room, but they hadn’t known it was her at the time, and they didn’t know it was Damien in that Breaker Room, either. “Jessica must be relieved…”

Their hand went for the button and sighed in relief when they saw Catherine standing on her stage, in position and waiting to dance. Well, it was her default pose if the posters meant anything, but that default pose was one that a ballerina would have to be ready to dance at any moment. They were grateful that she was cooperating, otherwise, they didn’t know what they would do. They didn’t want to electrocute her, especially now that they knew that it was one of their dead friends in there.

_“Great. Now let’s check on Funtime Foxy.”_

Fritz moved away from the window and towards Michael’s stage, and they pressed the button, biting their lip a little as they watched him on his stage, stand there at the ready. They didn’t know why he was cooperating tonight, especially considering what he had done to them on their third… fourth night? Something like that. They hoped that Jessica had talked to him and had somehow gotten through the mind of the AI and somehow reached whatever part of Michael was left in there. Though they knew that Michael was completely gone. They didn’t know why they kept hoping.

_“Great! It looks like everything is as it should be in the Funtime Auditorium.”_

“Thank God for that.” They sighed, and rubbed at their eyes, before listening to the next directions that the HandUnit would give.

_“Your work today involves more maintenance work. Circus Baby had a rough day and is in need of repair. You will be required to reach the Parts and Service room by once again sneaking through Funtime Auditorium. As always, please, proceed with precaution.”_

The vent that gave to Michael’s Auditorium opened with a loud clang, and they reluctantly made their way inside the vent. They didn’t know what would happen, considering they had been pretty much been abducted by the fox animatronic the night before. But, he had been on his stage when they had checked, and they hoped that he wouldn’t be coming down from it any time soon. They took the beacon near the vent when they got out, and begun flashing in front of them, wincing each time thinking they would see Michael standing there, head twitching uncontrollably.

But, he had never come down. He never came for them, Fritz never saw him at any point.

_“Motion Trigger: Parts and Service”_

_“Great job reaching Parts and Service. Circus Baby has been deactivated due to an unknown reason. It’s your job to make sure she is structurally stable and secure to the conveyor. Our technicians will take it from there.”_

Fritz winced as the sound of the HandUnit cut off with a wince. They brought their free hand to their ear as if it would cut off the sound. It did not, and it caused their ears to ring a little uncomfortably. God, the HandUnit really was louder than they thought, wasn’t it? Silence then took over, and Fritz looked at how huge Jessica’s animatronic was. She looked maybe a little smaller than Freddy, but definitely larger. There were two bright orange metal ponytails at the base of her neck, and her dress was painted a dark blue. It looked like her, in some ways, and it was… disturbing to see, to say the least.

“Jessica?” Fritz asked softly, watching into the dark eyes of the animatronic. God, they hoped she wasn’t off. They needed to come up with a plan to free them. If she was off, they didn’t know what they would do. They didn’t know if they could live through another week down here. “Are you off?”

“No, no I’m awake,” Her voice resonated around the small room, though the body did not move or turn on. It was slightly disturbing, but… it supposed it made sense she did not move if there were still people working inside for whatever reason. “I just don’t want the cameras to see I’m... alive.”

“...Alright,” Fritz said simply and sighed before they continued. “Can you be a dear and tell me why you’re back here?”

“Ballora is the second most requested animatronic, after me. If I shut down, then they had no choice but to send her to my parties. Which, would mean building her back up, while... “

“...While you’re sent to the scooper.” Fritz finished. They sighed, they knew that it meant that Jessica would be built back up if things went wrong and they didn’t find a solution, but it didn’t mean they weren’t still worried. “Does it hurt?”

“Very much so.”

“Then why are you doing it?” They pushed, their voice sounding both confused and panicked as they tried to make sense of all of that.

“Because I love her.”

Fritz froze a little and stared at the hulking figure in front of them. It supposed it made sense. Jessica and Catherine had always acted in a way that betrayed there were feelings there, they had always acted like they were more than friends. If they were just friends when they were alive, it made sense that in death, they had found a way to make everything a little bit more bearable. Seeing Cath get scooped must have been absolute torture for Jess, last night. It made sense why she left after that.

“...Alright, okay.” They sighed and rubbed at their eyes with their free hand, and stared at Jessica before biting their lip lightly. “Jessica, do you know if there’s anything that could cause all of you to move on? Go to… whatever the afterlife is, just move on and stop possessing these bodies.”

“...Heat, I suppose. There was one time where the boiler room got too hot, heated the building in such a way that we all got weak. We all thought we would move on when that happened, but they fixed it in time, and we… didn’t.” She explained, her voice was soft as she thought. There was hope in there, too. “I can get you there. Just… get me ready for the Scooper and I’ll guide you to the security room. From there you can get to the boiler room, and… heat everything up.”

“Alright. Alright, yeah, that works.” They nodded, and their hope swelled in their chest. God, they could make everything end. Everything will end by the time they are back home, and they’ll be able to move on. Maybe they could go back to college, now that they got their answers. Study something they actually wanted to study and work in something that didn’t imply repairing robots or cars, or… anything. 

Fritz quickly did what they could to adjust Baby and finish the work, with Jessica’s guidance considering HandUnit had glitched out. It wasn’t that hard, a lot less dangerous than Freddy had been, but… it was still dangerous in some ways, they supposed. As much as they trusted Jessica, they still strongly disliked getting too close to the body of the animatronic. Once that was done and she was being sent off, they quietly left the room.

They were then guided to the secret room. In the dark, it was kind of difficult, but their keycard worked on the lock. It allowed them to get in, despite HandUnit’s warnings that they were in an area they weren’t supposed to be in. The room was small, and kind of creepy now that they thought about it. It was made in complete gray metal, and there were three screens that kept flipping off between cameras, and one included the small bedroom of a child with a bear on the bed. They didn’t recognize it, but they had a bad feeling about what it implied.

“From there… take the door to your right and keep taking the doors to the left. You’ll eventually reach a pink-lit room, that’s the boiler room. The moment you turn the heat to the highest setting, you’ll have to get out of the facility. There are chances it’s gonna explode and cause fires.” Jessica explained, her voice sounding a little bit sad. “I can’t follow you from there. I have to go back. I’ll… miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” They replied, low and sad as reality crept in. It would be the last time they would see any of them, wasn’t it? Some part of them was happy, happy that they could still move on. But some part of them… they were disappointed they weren’t able to talk to them anymore. Especially Damien. They had thought they would get to talk to him one last time. “Hey… Jess? If you see Damien, in the afterlife… can you tell him I love him? And say hello to the others. Please.”

“I… can do that, yeah.” She agreed, and she remained silent for a little while. “I’ll see you whenever you join us, yeah? Don’t come too early, though. I’ll be disappointed.”

“No promises.” They laughed out, and soon after that… moved out of the metal door and continued deeper into the facility. They were surprised none of the technicians had seen him yet. Maybe they had left by now. They hoped they did. Especially considering there were chances the place would blow, by what Jess said.

Once they reached the boiler room, they kind of froze in place for a moment. That was it. It was over. This Hell for their friends would finally be over. They would move on, and so would Fritz. They could go back to studying, they could forget all of this ever happened, they could talk care of Jeremy without fearing constantly of what would happen down there next and if they would come back home to the blond. Their feet guided them to the boiler slowly, and their hand went for the small device that indicated the current temperature of the place. They pressed the button that went ‘up’ until the heat refused to rise, and took a step back.

_“Warning: Heat Levels Dangerously High. Please lower it immediately or escape the premises. Warning: Heat Levels Dangerously High-”_

The voice of the HandUnit rang around them, with no sign of stopping. The message was playing over and over again, and they dropped the cursed thing on the floor as they turned on their heels and booked it. They rant down the halls they walked, they ran out of the doorways, the sound of their feet pounding on the floor resonating around them along with the faint words that the HandUnit behind them. They didn’t hear anyone else, so they assumed the technicians were escaping.

They rant out of Funtime Foxy’s Auditorium, where Michael was still standing on his stage, though he was unmoving. He was apparently welcoming everything with no fear, acceptance clear. Though he remembered nothing, being only now but an angry AI, that much he seemed to have registered. Fritz didn’t even look back as he ducked and crawled through the vent that gave onto the crawlspace. They didn’t even look at Ballora’s Gallery, to say goodbye to Catherine, and went for the vent that would give to the elevator.

Only once they were inside the elevator, the button pressed so that it could go up, did Fritz allow themselves to slide to the floor and register everything that just happened.

It was over.

It was finally over.

They were crying, but it was over.


End file.
